GARY, Ind. (AP): Gary's neighborhoods are pockmarked with 21 abandoned schools littered with broken windows and gang graffiti that add to the northwestern Indiana city's urban decay.

Officials with the Gary Community Schools say they're unable to sell the buildings because of a $7.1 million lien from the IRS over delinquent taxes and penalties.

The district has several million dollars more in debts and has been laying off teachers and closing schools for years while the city's population has plunged by more than 20 percent since 2000.

The (Munster) Times reports (http://bit.ly/1SGwAzw ) that the problem with Gary's vacant schools drew attention earlier this month when a 17-year-old Chicago girl was found strangled to death inside one former school building.